


In the Eyes of Kings

by Mostly_Canon



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Meetings, Little bit of blood, M/M, oh no he hot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 04:43:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19266118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mostly_Canon/pseuds/Mostly_Canon
Summary: My hc of a scene we never got to see - Runaan and King Harrow meeting for the first time.Runaan never expected King Harrow to be hot, so...there's that.(I also tried to stick with canon, so hope this reads ok!)





	In the Eyes of Kings

Before he’d ever met Viren.  
Before Runaan had ever laid eyes on Aaravos, and things had become so complicated.  


Prior to his capture, and the coin. The dungeon. The shame and humiliation in that…there had always been one specific memory that Runaan still struggled to forget. Regardless of where he was, what he was doing. A memory of the things he’d left unsaid, chosen not to do. 

They had only been alone together once. 

Runaan had fought, clawed his way up to the king’s tower, through the esteemed crownsguard itself in hunger to fall the human ruler of Katolis. Harrow had been there alone, waiting in his chambers as Runaan had slipped in, locked the doors behind him.  
Bathed in moonlight, the king watched the night from a window beside his grand bed. He seemed lost in thought, oblivious even as Runaan had flipped the hilt of his bowblades.  
He would cut chest then throat, simultaneously. Two swift motions ensuring that the human would not survive. 

This would be quick.

But as the moonshadow elf launched himself from the edge of the room toward Harrow’s position, the king’s gaze suddenly unlocked itself from the full moon. His eyes found Runaan’s, and in that moment everything, from the weight of the assasin’s feet to the beating of his own heart, inexplicably, somehow… began to slow down. 

‘He’s looking at me.’

The elf’s eyes hardened. So what? Runaan had searched his enemies like this countless times before. Studied them in the moments just before their deaths. And this particular man, king or otherwise, would prove to be no different. He wasn't special.  
“….” But King Harrow simply waited there. Watched Runaan as he allowed the elf to draw, with incredible speed, against his center and throat.  
This would indeed be quick, but…  
.  
.  
.  
“…What’s the matter?” Runaan demanded, scowled as his eyes and markings glowed luminous in the pale light. Metal glinted. “Your own people aren’t worth the fight?”  
“…” No reply from His Highness, although Harrow’s gaze did speak to Runaan in return. The king's eyes were smoky green, soft. Heavy as low rain clouds. And they held within them thunderstorms of immeasurable weight.

"..." Silence as Runaan searched His Majesty's face, completely unprepared for what was happening. As the flashes of guilt in King Harrow's eyes battled exhaustion and regret.

Impossible to imagine how it might feel, to be king. But even so...it was no matter now.

“You’ll say nothing?” Runaan challenged, though his voice had lowered considerably. “Nothing of the blood on your crown?” With that, he tipped the edge of his blade closer to slit Harrow's throat. “Nothing of the treachery you’ve...,” As he searched Harrow's face, then somehow found himself searching for the right words to say next. Runaan had unexpectedly faltered, blinking, his eyes aglow. He looked Harrow downward, then very quickly, back up. Angry again. “…You’ve…”  


But the elf's words had lost themselves. And it was then Runaan began to realize that he’d only ever heard stories about King Harrow’s appearance. How ugly, supposedly poor in frame and stature he was. But the human rivaled him in height, appeared all much more than healthy. The width of his chest alone...

"..."  
"..."

Harrow’s scent was warm. He smelled of firewood and old books. Incense and ink. Wine.

His skin, chestnut and chocolate. Smooth lines of a firm jaw covered modestly by a handsome beard. And his long, thick hair. Beautifully locked…

Monster of a man.  
'Remember the things he's done.'

“…” But as Runaan came closer, readied the two of them for the intimacy of what was about to happen, the elf was again drawn back, almost against his own free will, to search the king’s eyes. And together, they connected. Dark and deep. Like clouds beckoned by a waning moon.  


An unsteady breath as Runaan prepared Harrow for his end. Long locks fell away from the nape of the king’s neck, revealing a collar there which was slightly unbuttoned.  


"..." Wow. But wait.

There, underneath his ear. Was that...a bruise? A bite mark? Yes. It was. Someone, it seemed, had apparently claimed King Harrow for their own. And even though it was pointless now to wonder who it was, the elf found himself nonetheless guessing who it might be. Harrow's wife was dead. So who had become lucky enough to gain agency over His Majesty? And who was this person (although again, pointless), that Harrow favored most of all?

Runaan’s eyes narrowed as his blade moved the king’s collar aside.  
"...?" Hang on. Those weren’t human bite marks. Runaan squinted. No...they were puncture wounds. Two identical sets, unmistakably that...of a snake. And one with two heads. There was nothing else that it could be.  
“A soulfang serpent,” Runaan whispered in realization.  
Sounds of soldiers running up the corridor outside. They were coming. 

“…” Harrow looked away as he heard them. Back at Runaan, then over toward the other side of the bed. Resting on a side table was something that Runaan had not seen earlier. It was an aviary. A cage. And inside…  
Yet another pair of brilliant, green eyes flashed at Runaan from the shadows.  


King Harrow. There he was.  
Witnessing the murder of his own body from a different vessel…like a coward.  
Worse than a coward-  


‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’ An abrupt pounding against the door.  
“OPEN UP!! BY ROYAL ORDER OF THE CROWNSGUARD!!”

“I should’ve expected as much.” Runaan tsked, his countenance having hardened once more. The elf’s blades worked fast as blood wept onto the chamber floor. Harrow’s body fell into his arms, and Runaan held the king close, enveloped in warmth. Then, he again looked to the cage.  


He still had time. Plenty of time-  
“OPEN UP IN THERE!”  
To go over there. To kill the king’s soul. To at last be done with it.  
“...”  
“…” But the elf and the large black bird could only stare at one another.  
And Runaan remained where he was until finally, King Harrow’s body fell into a slump on the floor.  
_

“Nh..” Feeling the sting from his own wounds now, the adrenaline fast wearing off. His injuries sustained were numerous as Runaan made his way out onto the king’s balcony. 

The moonshadow binding had been fooled. The ribbon loosened from his wrist, fluttered to the stone.  
The elf winced as he bent to pick it up, bound his arrow. Runaan withdrew his bow, aimed, and fired the bolt skyward. Signal that it was all over. That King Harrow of Katolis was dead.

But as Runaan fell to his knees, waited as he heard the doors being forced open from the outside, the elf looked back to the aviary one final time.

At those eyes. All they had told him. All he'd seen. All they had said. All they had wished.  


.  
.  
.

"...Harrow."


End file.
